June 2024

‘‘Operation al-Aqsa Flood’ Day 267: Gaza Death toll rises to 37,834

SANA: Palestinian Ministry of Health: The number of victims of the ongoing occupation aggression on the Gaza Strip, for the 267th day, had risen to 37,834 martyrs and 86,858 wounded. Read More

Israel’s leaked plan for annexing the West Bank, explained
Mondoweiss: Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich’s plan to annex the West Bank would see over 60% of the territory becoming a part of Israel. But Palestinian experts say it is “already happening.” Read More

War on Gaza: Hunger ‘Worse Than Bombings’ for Starving Palestinians
Middle East Eye: Food is scarce, spoilt and often non-existent in besieged enclave, leaving people dizzy and weak. Read More

Arab League says it no longer considers Hezbollah a terrorist organization
TRT World: The Arab League's assistant secretary-general has announced that the league has ceased referring to Hezbollah as a "terrorist organization." In a televised statement on the Egyptian Al Qahera News channel the day after he concluded his visit to Beirut, Hossam Zaki said: "In previous Arab League decisions, Hezbollah was designated as a terrorist organisation, and this designation was reflected in the resolutions, leading to the severing of communication based on these decisions." "The member states of the League agreed that the label of Hezbollah as a terrorist organisation should no longer be employed," Zaki said. The change comes amid heightened tensions in southern Lebanon due to Israel's ongoing war on Gaza. Read More

Unpacking fear of an ‘all-out war’ between Israel and Lebanon
TRT World: As tensions rise between Israel and Lebanon, the Pentagon has sent military ships to prepare for the evacuation of American citizens from the region, according to US defense officials. NBC News reports that these ships include the USS Wasp, an assault ship, which “will operate in the eastern Mediterranean to be ready for a Military Assisted Departure and other missions.” The US embassy in Beirut has also issued repeated travel warnings to its citizens, urging them to “strongly reconsider travel to Lebanon”. Meanwhile, White House envoy Amos Hochstein expressed concern about the possibility of “a greater war” during his trip to Lebanon. "We have seen an escalation over the last few weeks. And what President Biden wants to do is avoid a further escalation to a greater war,” he said. Read More

The Middle East is sitting on a powder keg
Mideast Discourse: The Middle East is sitting on a powder keg, and every minute that passes brings heightened tensions between Israel and Hezbollah. Read More

Latimer defeats Jamaal Bowman with $15 million worth of help from AIPAC
Mondoweiss: George Latimer used $15 million from AIPAC to defeat Jamaal Bowman in New York's 16th district. "We should be outraged when a super PAC of dark money can spend $20 million to brainwash people into believing something that isn’t true," Bowman said. Read More

Tent mosque in Gaza: Palestinian women hold on to their faith amid war
TRT World: From gathering daily in their local mosques, displaced women in central Gaza now meet in a tent mosque, clinging to the Quran as their sole companion. Read More

CAIR Welcomes U.S. Report Highlighting Violence Against Muslims, Christians and other Religious Minorities in India
CAIR: The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today welcomed a State Department report highlighting violence targeting religious minorities in India. CAIR also repeated its call for the State Department to designate India as a country of particular concern. Read More

US religious freedom report notes violence against Indian minorities
Reuters: The U.S. State Department's 2023 religious freedom report on India noted violent attacks on minority groups, especially Muslims and Christians, including killings, assaults and vandalism of houses of worship. The report on international religious freedom released on Wednesday said that in 2023, senior U.S. officials continued to "raise concerns about religious freedom issues" with their Indian counterparts. Human rights experts say India has seen a rise in attacks on minorities under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who recently won a third term, and his Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Read More

Key Findings of the U. S. Report

Modi's return: Why is it worrying for South Asia, Palestine peace?
BY IRFAN RAJA: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s return to power has raised concerns about the future of Muslims in South Asia and Palestine, given his administration’s previous policies impacting Muslim communities. There are apprehensions about potential continued challenges for Indian Muslims, who, according to professor Archana Venkatesh, may feel a regression to colonial-era conditions. Read More

India’s Muslim lawmaker faced backlash for raising pro-Palestine chant
TRT World: A simple expression of support for Palestine by an elected representative on the floor of the Indian parliament is being confronted virulently by the supporters of premier Modi’s ruling party. Read More

Operation al-Aqsa Flood’ Day 264: 37,718 killed and at least 86,337 wounded in the Gaza Strip

Israel war on Gaza live: Israeli attacks across enclave kill 60 people
Al Jazeera: Israeli attacks in Gaza have killed 60 Palestinians and injured 140 in the latest 24-hour reporting period, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. Gaza’s Civil Defense says the level of destruction left behind after Israel’s bombardment of the Beit Lahiya city in northern Gaza “defies imagination”. Read    More

Iraqi Resistance strikes 'vital' Israeli target in Eilat
Al Mayadeen: In the early hours of Wednesday, the Islamic Resistance in Iraq announced that it had carried out a drone strike targeting a "vital Israeli target" in the occupied Palestinian city of Umm al-Rashrash, known as Eilat. In a brief statement, the Islamic Resistance declared that this operation was conducted in solidarity with the Gaza Strip and in response to the massacres being committed by the Israeli occupation against Palestinians, including children, women, and the elderly. The group vowed to continue striking the Israeli occupation's strongholds. Read    More

Yemen unveils new ballistic missile in operation on Israeli ship
Al Mayadeen: The spokesperson for the Yemeni Armed Forces, Brigadier General Yahya Saree, confirmed the execution of a special military operation that targeted the Israeli ship 'MSC SARAH V' in the Arabian Sea. Saree revealed on Tuesday evening that the operation was carried out using a new ballistic missile, which entered service after successfully completing experimental operations, noting that the hit was precise and direct on the ship. Read    More

India exports rockets, explosives to Israel amid Gaza war: Al Jazeera

Assange declared a free man, boards plane headed to Australia
Al Mayadeen: A US judge has sentenced WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to time served, with no supervised release, following his guilty plea to a charge of conspiring to unlawfully obtain and disseminate classified information related to the national defense of the United States. Assange has been imprisoned in the high-security Belmarsh prison in London since April 2019 after British police were allowed to raid the Ecuadorian Embassy where he had secured asylum since 2012. "You will be able to walk out of this courtroom a free man," the judge declared to Assange, marking the end of a high-profile legal battle. Read    More

Middle East on brink as Israel, Hezbollah drum up war rhetoric

Daily Sabah: Two senior European diplomats voiced concerns Monday over a potential spillover of Israel’s Gaza war into Lebanon as Tel Aviv-Hezbollah tensions continued to climb. European foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said that the Middle East was close to seeing a wider war. "The risk of this war affecting the south of Lebanon and spilling over is every day bigger," Borrell told reporters ahead of a foreign ministers meeting in Luxembourg. "We are on the eve of the war expanding." Read More

Israel kills Hamas chief Haniyeh's family members in Gaza attack
Daily Sabah: Israel has killed several members of the Hamas political bureau chief Ismail Haniyeh's family, including his sister, in an attack in the western Gaza City on Tuesday. According to medical sources, at least 10 people of the Haniyeh family were killed in an Israeli airstrike on their home in the Beach refugee camp, western Gaza City. On April 10, Haniyeh lost three of his sons in an Israeli airstrike on their car in the Beach camp. Read More

Over 20,000 children missing in Israel's brutal war on Gaza
Relief Web: Thousands of Palestinian children have been missing, trapped beneath the rubble of destroyed homes, detained by Israeli forces, buried in unmarked graves or lost from families, Save the Children said in a new statement. The agency’s child protection teams said the latest displacements caused by the offensive in Rafah have separated more children and further increased the strain on families and communities caring for them. "It is nearly impossible to collect and verify information under the current conditions in Gaza, but at least 17,000 children are believed to be unaccompanied and separated and approximately 4,000 children are likely missing under the rubble, with an unknown number also in mass graves," the British aid group said. Read More

Palestinian groups confirm commitment to success of China's mediation for reconciliation
Yeni Safak: The Palestinian Hamas and Fatah groups on Monday announced their commitment to the success of China's mediation efforts to achieve the Palestinian reconciliation.This comes in two separate statements as both rivals blamed each other for obstructing Tuesday's scheduled expanded national dialogue meeting in the Chinese capital Beijing. Read More

Why did Muslim-majority Tajikistan ban the hijab?
Euro News: The ban on headscarves in Tajikistan is seen as a reflection of the political line that the government of president-for-life Emomali Rahmon has been pursuing since 1997. Tajikistan's government passed a law banning the hijab, the latest in a string of 35 wide-ranging religion-related acts, in a move described by the government as "protecting national cultural values" and "preventing superstition and extremism". The decision was seen as surprising, as the central Asian country of some 10 million is 96% Muslim, according to the last census in 2020. Read More

Gaza Under The Bombs With 24 Killed in Al Shati Camp

By Dr Marwan Asmar: Israel is relentless in its bombings. Today is the turn of Al Shati Camp in the center of Gaza. It is part of the continued Israeli massacres that took away 41 lives combined with the devastating military actions in Al Tuffah neighbourhood of Gaza City.  Israeli bombardments resulted in the further destruction of one area of the Al Shati Camp where strikes took the lives of 24 people. Read More

Israel Flattened Civilian Housing Complexes with 2000-lb  bombs
BY JUAN COLE:The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights issued a reportﾠthis week on “Indiscriminate and disproportionate attacks during the conflict in Gaza” during the first three months of the Israeli campaign against Gaza.The UN is painfully polite, so you may not be able to tell that the terms “indiscriminate” and “disproportionate” are war crimes, of which it is accusing the Israeli government. The report notes, “According to the Israeli Air Force (IAF), between 7 October 2023 and 19 February 2024 over 29,000 targets in Gaza were attacked.” Read More

Does Israel really want to Open a Two-Front War by attacking Hezbollah in Lebanon?
By Ian Parmeter: Among the many sayings attributed to Winston Churchill is, “Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” This sentiment seems appropriate as Israel potentially appears ready to embark on a war against the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah in southern Lebanon. Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said this week a decision on an all-out war against Hezbollah was “coming soon” and that senior commanders of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) had signed off on a plan for the operation. This threat comes despite the fact Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza is far from over. Israel has still not achieved the two primary objectives Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu put forth at the start of the conflict: the destruction of Hamas as a military and governing entity in Gaza and the freeing of the remaining Israeli hostages held by Hamas. Read More

One More Pakistani Journalist Killed
Pressenza: Press Emblem Campaign, the global media safety and rights body, expresses utter shock over the relentless murder of journalists in Pakistan, as the South Asian nation has lost its seventh scribe to assailants this year. Condemning the gunning down of  Khalil Afridi Jibran (55), a television journalist of  the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on  18 June 2024, PEC  demands a high-level probe into his murder, and nab the culprits to be punished under the law. Read More

Low-Yield nuclear weapons behind Russian consideration of changes to its nuclear doctrine
By Carl Osgood: Before he ended his visit to Vietnam on June 21, Russian President Vladimir Putin specified in a meeting with Russian journalists that the issue behind the reconsideration of Russia’s nuclear doctrine is the West’s development of low-yield nuclear devices for combat use. “In particular, ultra-low-power nuclear explosive devices are being developed, and we know that expert circles in the West are entertaining the idea that such weapons could be used, and there is nothing particularly terrible about it,” he said. “It may not be terrible, but we must be aware of this. And we are.” Read More

A new multipolar security system based on ‘Pax Rossiya
ICH: The BRICS multipolar world order is a welcome alternative to the mayhem of the Western-dominated system. The principles of fairness and cooperation are laudable and necessary to implement. Read More

The U.S. containment of Russia-China strategic partnership is already un-ravelling in real time
By Pepe   Escobar: The St. Petersburg forum offered a wealth of crucial sessions discussing connectivity corridors. One of the key ones was on the Northern Sea Route (NSR) – or, in Chinese terminology, the Arctic Silk Road: the number one future alternative to the Suez canal. With an array of main corporate actors in the room – for instance, from Rosneft, Novatek, Norilsk Nickel – as well as governors and ministers, the stage was set for a comprehensive debate. Top Putin adviser Igor Levitin set the tone: to facilitate seamless container transport, the federal government needs to invest in seaports and icebreakers; a comparison was made – in terms of technological challenge – to the building of the Trans-Siberian railway; and Levitin also stressed the endless expansion possibilities for city hubs such as Murmansk, Archangelsk and Vladivostok. Read More

‘Operation al-Aqsa Flood’ Day 258: Threat of all-out war between Israel and Hezbollah rises

Mondpweiss: Hassan Nasrallah warned in a televised speech that Hezbollah would “fight without restraints and without limits” in the event of an all-out war. Meanwhile, the first lawyer to visit Gaza detainees in Sde Teiman said they face “unimaginable” abuse. Read More

Intensified Israeli assault grips Gaza's Rafah amid intense combat
Daily Sabah: Israeli forces heavily bombed Rafah and other areas across the Gaza Strip and engaged in close-quarter combat with Hamas members, according to residents and Israel's military. Residents reported that the Israelis seemed to be trying to complete their capture of Rafah, the city on the enclave's southern edge that has been the focus of an Israeli assault since early May. Israeli forces conducted airstrikes from planes, tanks and ships off the coast, leading to a new wave of displacement from the city.Rafah had been providing shelter to over a million displaced people, most of whom have now been forced to flee again. Read More

Israeli forces kill Palestinian journalist as media death toll soars
Anadolu Agency: Israeli forces killed another journalist in the Gaza Strip on Thursday, bringing the total number of Palestinian media workers' deaths since Oct. 7, 2023, to 152. The Government Media Office in Gaza identified the victim as Salim al-Sharafa, who worked as a presenter and journalist for local broadcaster Al-Aqsa TV. The statement, however, did not elaborate on how or where he was killed. Read More

36 prisoners tortured to death in Israeli jails since Oct. 7: Gaza Media Office
Yeni Safak: At least 36 Palestinian prisoners detained by Israeli forces since Oct. 7 have died as a result of torture and harsh conditions in Israeli prisons, the Gaza Media Office said on Thursday. The Israeli army is believed to have detained thousands of Palestinians from Gaza, including women, children and medics, amid its deadly offensive on the enclave. Dozens of detainees freed by the Israeli army in recent weeks have described torture and mistreatment during interrogation while in custody. Read More

Those expecting the world to return to its pre-October 7 state are mistaken
Selçuk Türkyılmaz: Israel and Zionism’s true nature, as well as the West’s imperial loyalty to Israel, became increasingly visible. The Western imperialism of the U.S., U.K., and Germany, among others, could no longer be concealed. The myth of European and Western superiority collapsed on the shores of Gaza. Expecting a return to the pre-October 7th world is unrealistic. We are now entering a new era, and recognizing this shift is crucial. This fundamental change necessitates new ideas and concepts. Read More

Death toll from global heat wave climbs as 1,000 die from extreme heat in Mecca
By Alex Findijs: The most severe impacts of the global heat wave have been in Saudi Arabia, where an estimated 1,000 people have died from the searing heat during the Islamic Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca. The Hajj is one of the most important religious events in Islam, drawing millions of people every year on a pilgrimage to the Kaaba, the “House of Allah.” Temperatures in Mecca reached 125 degrees Fahrenheit (51.8 Celsius) this week. Read More

Hamas cannot be defeated 'as an ideology', says  Israeli Admiral
TRT World: Palestinian group Hamas cannot be defeated as an ideology, the spokesman of Israel's army said Wednesday. After more than eight months of war, Israel has failed to oust Hamas from the Palestinian territory but has brought widespread devastation. Hamas is an ideology, we cannot eliminate an ideology," Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari told Israel's Channel 13 broadcaster. Read More

Palestinian refugees' right to return 'sacred, non-negotiable': Hamas
Al Mayadeen: Operation Al-Aqsa Flood has brought global attention back to the Palestinian refugee issue, highlighted its justice, and thwarted attempts to obscure it, Hamas said Thursday on World Refugee Day, calling for enabling the Palestinian people's rights to freedom, independence, and the end of the occupation. Hamas said the epics written by the Palestinians in Gaza, the West Bank, and al-Quds' camps are evidence of the deep-rootedness of Palestinian refugees in their land. Read More

What Hezbollah Could Do to Israel in Three Days of All-Out War – Report
Palestine Chronicle:  As clashes between Israel and the Lebanese movement Hezbollah are intensifying, Foreign Policy  reported, citing an Israeli diplomat, that Israel would face a “strategic threat” in the case of an all-out war. Hezbollah launched its most significant rocket assault at Israel last week, in retaliation for an Israeli airstrike that killed a senior Hezbollah commander, raising concerns that the conflict could rapidly escalate. Starting on October 8, Hezbollah has launched thousands of rockets, anti-tank missiles, and drones into Israel, while the Israeli Air Force has responded with hundreds of airstrikes in southern Lebanon. Read More

Undetected, Hezbollah Hoopoe mission exposes sensitive Israeli sites
Palestine Chronicle: The Military Media of the Islamic Resistance in Lebanon - Hezbollah released Tuesday footage showing its reconnaissance drones flying over swathes of occupied Palestinian land, including Kiryat Shmona, Nahariya, Safad, Karmiel, Afula, all the way to Haifa and its port. Titled "This is what the Hoopoe came back with," the nine-minute-and-a-half video captured footage and exposed sensitive Israeli sites. Hezbollah indicated that the video was only the first episode of more yet to come, highlighting that the drones bypassed Israeli air defenses and returned to Lebanese airspace undetected. Read More

Pakistan Cricket Team In Dithers
By Syed Rifaquat Ali: Drastic measures are required to set things right, otherwise Pakistan Cricket will continue to limp. Read More

Israel continues to pound Gaza with deadly strikes during Eid
aily Sabah: At least 13 Palestinians were killed in deadly Israel strikes in Gaza Tuesday as the Muslims marked Eid al-Adha. The deaths came despite an Israeli announcement at the weekend of a daily "pause" of military activity to facilitate aid flows coincided with the Islamic holiday. Witnesses and the Hamas government media office said there were some strikes and fighting elsewhere in northern and central Gaza. Read More

Israel rounds up 90 Palestinians in West Bank during Muslim Eid al-Adha holiday
Anadolu Agency: At least 9,280 Palestinians detained by Israeli forces in occupied West Bank since Oct. 7, according to Palestinian figures. The Israeli army detained 90 more Palestinians in military raids across the occupied West Bank during the Muslim Eid al-Adha holiday, the Palestinian Prisoners' Club stated Wednesday. Read More

Israeli regime preparing for all-out war with Hezbollah in Lebanon
By Jordan Shilton: A drastic escalation of tensions between Israel and the Hezbollah militia in Lebanon over the past week has brought the prospect of an expansion of war across the Middle East ever closer. Following Israel’s assassination of a senior Hezbollah commander and a retaliatory rocket barrage fired on northern Israel, The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) released a statement Tuesday declaring that operational plans for a war in Lebanon have been approved. Read More

How Many More Massacres Must We Palestinians Endure Here in Gaza?
By Haya Ismail: We often wonder: how many more people will be murdered before Israel feels it has defeated us enough to feel victorious? The Israeli attack on Al Nuseirat happened in an instant, killing some 270 people and injuring at least 700 more in about an hour. The local market was instantly turned into a graveyard with bodies and body parts strewn across the pavement. They were murdered in cold blood. Read More

Biden Administration concerned Israel will drag US into War with Lebanon
Middle East Monitor: The administration of United States’ president Joe Biden has grown increasingly concerned that Israel could drag the US into a war in Lebanon, as Tel Aviv continues to escalate tensions on its northern border and scale up attacks on Hezbollah. According to CBS News,  anonymous US officials informed it that the Biden administration views the increasing strikes by Israel’s military on southern Lebanon as the precursor of a full-scale invasion of the country and war with it. Such an event, the officials said, would require the US to intervene and directly support Israel in order to help it win the conflict. Read More

peration al-Aqsa Flood’ Day 255: Netanyahu dissolves Israel’s war cabinet
Mondoweiss: Gaza authorities accuse Israel and the U.S. of inducing starvation in Gaza as a weapon of war to force their "political goals." On Monday, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dissolved the Israeli government war cabinet that was formed immediately following the October 7 attack, and that has been directing the war for nine months. Netanyahu’s move came a week after two key members of the war cabinet, Benny Gantz and Gadi Eizenkot, resigned in protest of Netanyahu’s leadership, calling for early elections. Read More

The United States Is the Main Obstacle to Peace in Palestine
By Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J. S. Davies: Biden or Netanyahu could end the slaughter very quickly if they wanted to—Netanyahu by agreeing to a permanent cease-fire, or Biden by ending or suspending U.S. weapons deliveries to Israel. Israel could not carry out this war without U.S. military and diplomatic support. Read More

Israel, Defying UNSC Ceasefire Order, “Completely Dehumanizes” Palestinians 
BY JUAN COLE: The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reports on the humanitarian situation in Gaza this week in the aftermath of the United Nations Security Council demand (14-0 with Russia abstaining) for a ceasefire in Gaza. It required Hamas and Israel to reply with a letter outlining their response. Hamas has done so but Israel has not, and members of the government, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, have made it clear in public remarks that they will defy the Security Council and will reject the Biden peace plan. Read More

Does Israel Have 90 Nuclear Warheads or 200?
By Dr Marwan Asmar: Israel is upgrading its nuclear arsenal maintains the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). With regards its deathly weapons, Israel maintains what its terms  “nuclear ambiguity”, neither confirming nor denying the possession of nuclear capability. However, in its report SIPRI  ranks Israel  number eight globally in terms of the number of stored nuclear warheads. The Swedish organization estimates Israel has 90 nuclear warheads, more than North Korea’s estimated 50 which comes last on the last that states with the USA, Russia, France, UK, China, India, Pakistan Israel and finally Korea. Read More

Pakistan in Search of New Future
By Dr. Mahboob A. Khawaja: National Freedom Won by the People but Lost by the Neo-Colonial Generals and Elite. Systematic Corruption and Political Dishonesty Challenge the Integrity of the Nation. Pakistan Needs a New System of Governance, Accountability and Public Institutions to Nation-building and Future-making. Read More

St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) 2024:
Marking the Rise of the Global South Century and Decline of Western Economies
By George Eliason: The St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, an annual event bringing together global leaders, policymakers, and influential business figures, took place in St. Petersburg, Russia from June 5th to 8th, 2024. Attendees representing 130 countries and roughly 3 billion people worldwide attended. This year, SPIEF’s theme was “The Foundations of a Multipolar World – The Formation of New Areas of Growth.” Read More

9,300 Palestinians currently detained in Israeli prisons
Al Mayadeen: The Palestinian Prisoners Society (PPS) says that the Israeli occupation currently holds 9,300 Palestinian detainees in Israeli prisons and detention centers. PPS explained that the Israeli occupation currently holds 250 child prisoners and 74 female prisoners. Although international law bans the incarceration of children, the Israeli occupation has drastically increased the number of children it holds in detention during the war on Gaza. Read More

U.N. Inquiry on Gaza Finds Israel Committed War Crimes Including Starvation, Torture and Murder
Democracy Now: A new report by a U.N. independent human rights body finds both Israel and Palestinian armed groups have committed war crimes since Hamas’s surprise attack on October 7. The damning U.N. report accuses Israel of using starvation as a method of warfare, forcible transfer and intentionally directing attacks against civilians. It calls on Israeli leaders to immediately end attacks resulting in the killing and maiming of civilians in Gaza, to end the siege, to implement a ceasefire and to pay reparations. The report also calls for the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages held by Hamas. Read More

Israel vows to press on in Gaza after UN Security Council approves ceasefire proposal
CNN: Israel has vowed to persist with its military operation in Gaza, saying it won’t engage in “meaningless” negotiations with Hamas, shortly after the United Nations Security Council overwhelmingly approved a US-backed ceasefire plan intended to bring an end to the eight-month war. Israel’s representative to the UN, Reut Shapir Ben-Naftaly, said the war would not end until all hostages were returned and Hamas’ capabilities were “dismantled,” accusing the Palestinian militant group of using “endless negotiations… as a means to stall for time.” Read More

Russia says it's working with a group of countries to build a platform that doesn't need the dollar
By Huileng Tan: A group of emerging countries are planning a payments platform to bypass the US dollar, Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov has announced. The initiative follows a BRICS summit call for trade in national currencies. The platform may use digital currency, with more details expected at the Kazan BRICS meeting. Read More

Russia Overtakes Japan as World’s Fourth Largest Economy
By Drago Bosnic: Less than 10 months after overtaking Germany, Russia also zoomed past Japan, leaving Westerners dumbfounded as to how a country they were told would “collapse under the weight of sanctions” and outright theft of its forex reserves managed to accomplish such a feat. Worse yet (for the political West), some sources estimate that the Eurasian giant currently has the fastest-growing major economy in the world. In addition, even Moscow’s updated projection of overtaking Tokyo (explicitly set for March 2025 by President Putin) turned out to be “too cautious”, as this was accomplished nearly a year earlier. Read More

With Eight Killed War Goes Badly For Israel
By Dr Marwan Asmar: The Israeli war on Gaza is going badly despite the intense destruction and soldiers of the Palestinians of Gaza. The Israelis are getting hit from both the south and the north. Hezbollah fighters are launching intense rockets, burning whole geographical areas that spread 12 to 13 kilometers across Israel.  Read More

Eight Israeli Soldiers Killed During an Operation in Rafah in Southern Gaza
Telesure: The Israeli government have confirmed the death of eight Israeli soldiers, included a Captain of the armoured personnel product of a “serious incident” during an operation in Rafah, in the southern tip of Gaza. The captain is Wassem Mahmoud, 23, from Beit Jann (northern Israel), and he was the deputy commander of the Israeli Army’s 601st Engineering Battalion. ” Seven other soldiers also fell in this incident. Their families have been notified,” a military statement added. The al-Qassam brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, claimed soldiers’ death this morning as “an ambush against enemy vehicles” in the Tal al-Sultan area of western Rafah. Read More

Israel, Defying UNSC Ceasefire Order, Completely Dehumanizes Palestinians
By Juan Cole: The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reports on the humanitarian situation in Gaza this week in the aftermath of the United Nations Security Council demand (14-0 with Russia abstaining) for a ceasefire in Gaza. It required Hamas and Israel to reply with a letter outlining their response. Hamas has done so but Israel has not, and members of the government, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, have made it clear in public remarks that they will defy the Security Council and will reject the Biden peace plan. Read More

U.S.-Saudi Petrodollar Pact Ends after 50 Years
by Paul Hoffman: The 50-year-old petrodollar agreement between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia was just allowed to expire. The term “petrodollar” refers to the U.S. dollar’s role as the currency used for crude oil transactions on the world market. This arrangement has its roots in the 1970s when the United States and Saudi Arabia struck a deal shortly after the U.S. went off the gold standard that would go on to have far-reaching consequences for the global economy. In the history of global finance, few agreements have wielded as many benefits as the petrodollar pact did for the U.S. economy. Read More

Gaza: Everything bombed to The Ground!
By Dr. Marwan Asmar: The economic losses of Gaza as a result of the 9-month Israeli bombardment are estimated at $33 billion. The Gaza Government Media Offices says these are direct initial losses. On the housing level, 138.4 thousand units were destroyed completely whilst 453 thousand housing units were partially destroyed. Israeli warplanes attacked and destroyed 194 government headquarters throughout the Gaza strip. The educational sector was completely decimated. The Media Office points out that 110 schools and universities were destroyed completely. However, 321 schools and universities were only partially destroyed in a clip shown on Al Jazeera. Read More

Text of Palestinian Resistance's response to 'Israel's' ceasefire proposal
Al Mayadeen obtains the document outlining the fundamental principles of the Palestinian Resistance's response to the Israeli proposal, as presented by US President Joe Biden, regarding the ceasefire agreement in the Gaza Strip. Read More

War on Gaza: The death of American exceptionalism
By Jess Salomon: Amid Israel's genocidal onslaught, the international rules-based order has been torn to shreds. There's no going back. For more than eight months, Israel’s US-backed assault on Gaza has killed tens of thousands of civilians. It has levelled Gaza’s buildings and infrastructure to such a degree that it is noticeable from space. It’s not a revelation to say that international law is applied unequally. We know the international rules-based order created in the wake of World War II favours the victors of that war. Read More

Why the fight for Palestine is the fight against U.S. imperialism in the region
By Adam Hanieh: We need an alternative approach to understanding Palestine that situates it within the wider region and the Middle East’s central place in our fossil fuel-centered world. Read More

Putin names conditions for Ukraine peace talks
RT: Ukraine must remove its troops from Russia’s new regions before any meaningful peace talks can begin, President Vladimir Putin has said. Moscow rejects Kiev’s claims of sovereignty over five formerly Ukrainian regions, four of which have joined Russia amid the ongoing hostilities. People in the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics and Kherson and Zaporozhye Regions voted for the transition in late 2022, though hostilities continue in all of them. Read More

Will the New, more Specific UN Ceasefire Resolution for Gaza Succeed?
By Marika Sosnowski: The UN Security Council has passed yet another resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza. This is the fourth such resolution adopted by the council since Hamas’ October 7 attack on southern Israel and the launching of Israel’s war in Gaza. Little has come from the three previous resolutions, all of which have been legally binding since they were passed by the Security Council. So, what is new about this latest resolution? This most recent resolution, which was drafted by the United States and supported by a vote of 14-0 (with Russia abstaining), has much more specific terms. For example, it lays out a three-stage approach to achieving a “permanent end to hostilities.” Read More

Blinken says US working to 'close the deal' on Gaza cease-fire
Yeni Safak: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday said Hamas has proposed changes to a potential cease-fire deal in Gaza, and Washington is working for an agreement. "Hamas has proposed numerous changes to the proposal that was on the table. Some of the changes are workable, some are not," Blinken told a joint news briefing with Qatari Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani in Doha. Read More

Blinken seeks to exonerate Israel from obstructing Gaza truce deal: Hamas
TRT World: Palestinian group Hamas has accused US Secretary of State Antony Blinken of seeking to exonerate Israel from obstructing the ceasefire. "Blinken’s attempts to exonerate the (Israeli) occupation and hold us responsible for obstructing a ceasefire are part of his country’s complicity in the war of annihilation," Hamas said in a statement late Wednesday. Read More

Cease-fire hopes hang in balance as Israel continues Gaza attack
Daily Sabah: Hopes for a cease-fire in Gaza hung in the balance Thursday as Israeli helicopters struck southern Gaza's Rafah, while U.S. top diplomat said a truce was still possible. Israeli ground forces have been operating in Rafah, near the Egyptian border, since early May to pursue Hamas members, despite widespread international alarm over the fate of displaced people crowded in the city. Western areas of Rafah came under heavy Israeli fire from the air, sea and land, residents said. Read More

Hamas request of China, Russia, Turkey guarantorship for cease-fire
Daily Sabah: Israeli media outlets reported on Wednesday that the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas wanted Türkiye, along with Russia and China, to act as guarantors in any cease-fire deal with Israel. Read More

Hamas reports no signs of Israel accepting Biden's ceasefire proposal
TRT World: Hamas said it has shown "full positivity" in efforts to reach a ceasefire agreement with Israel in besieged Gaza but also accused top US diplomat Antony Blinken of trying "to hold us accountable for obstructing truce deal" in collusion with Israel. Read More

More than 520 Palestinians killed in occupied West Bank, East Jerusalem since Oct. 7: UN
TRT World: The UN has reported that more than 520 Palestinians have been killed in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, since Oct. 7. Deputy spokesman Farhan Haq stressed at a news conference that the situation "continues to escalate, amid ongoing violence by Israeli forces and settlers." Read More

Hamas opens 'wide pathway' to Gaza cease-fire with positive reply
Daily Sabah:Hamas responded positively Wednesday to a U.S. cease-fire plan for the eight-month-old war in the Gaza Strip, opening a "wide pathway" to reach an agreement. However, neither the Palestinian group nor Israel publicly committed to a deal, creating uncertainty. Hamas submitted its formal response Tuesday to a proposal outlined by U.S. President Joe Biden on May 31. Israel claimed the response was tantamount to a rejection while a Hamas official said the Palestinian group merely reiterated longstanding demands not met by the current plan. Read More

Dozens of Gazan detainees released by Israel show 'signs of torture'
Yeni Safak: Israel released dozens of Palestinian detainees from the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, according to a local source. “Around 50 detainees from Gaza City and northern Gaza were freed,” a Palestinian source told Anadolu. The source said some 33 freed Gazans were taken to Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza for medical attention “due to difficult health conditions.” Read More

Israel keeps 9,170 Palestinians captive
TRT World: Since October 7, Israel has seized more than 9,000 Palestinians from occupied West Bank, in addition to thousands from besieged Gaza, says Palestinian Prisoners' Club. Read More

Gaza humanitarian conference calls for immediate cease-fire, sustainable funding for UN refugee agency UNRWA
Yeni Safak: Participants at an emergency aid conference for Gaza called Tuesday for an immediate halt to Israeli military operations in the enclave and for sustainable funding for the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA). The conference, dubbed “Call for Action: Urgent Humanitarian Response for Gaza," is organized by Jordan, Egypt, and the UN. They called for the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages and civilians detained unlawfully and stressed the importance of ensuring their safety and humane treatment per international law. Read More

War on Palestine: A Challenge to Global Humanity, Peace and Security
By Dr. Mahboob A. Khawaja: Lessons of history are deliberately ignored - people holding gospels in one hand have driven mankind to the insanity of Two WW with another hand without an end in sight to the continued crimes against humanity and genocide as now being witnessed in Gaza. Are there any prospects of political change and new thinking for a sustainable world of tomorrow? Read More

UNSC passes Gaza cease-fire resolution for the first time
Al Mayadeen: The United Nations Security Council on Monday adopted a resolution welcoming the Gaza ceasefire proposal put forth by US President Joe Biden. The resolution, drafted by the United States, received overwhelming support, with 14 members voting in favor and Russia abstaining. The ceasefire proposal, announced by Biden on May 31, outlines a new three-phase plan aimed at achieving "a lasting cessation of hostilities" in the Gaza Strip and the release of all captives held by Hamas. Hamas welcomed the ceasefire proposal. "We welcome the contents of the Security Council resolution regarding a permanent ceasefire in Gaza, complete withdrawal, the return of displaced persons, and reconstruction."  Read More

Details emerge of Israel’s Nuseirat refugee camp massacre
By Andre Damon: Details have begun to emerge of Israel’s massacre at the Nuseirat refugee camp in Gaza Saturday, in which 274 people were killed and hundreds more were injured. The Washington Post confirmed Sunday that Israeli forces used civilian vehicles in the military operation and that the operation was staged near the “humanitarian” port built by the US military. Gaza’s Government Media Office reported that Israel Defense Forces (IDF) soldiers pretended to be refugees before opening fire on the camp. The massacre was carried out under the pretext of a “hostage rescue,” although nearly as many hostages (three) were killed during the massacre as were rescued (four). Read More

‘Operation al-Aqsa Flood’ Day 248:
 Israel kills 274 Palestinians while freeing four Israeli prisoners in Gaza;
Gantz resigns from war cabinet

Mondoweiss: Blinken arrives in Cairo on his eighth tour to the Middle East since the beginning of the war in the hopes of pushing for a ceasefire and prisoner exchange dealBlinken arrives in Cairo on his eighth tour to the Middle East since the beginning of the war in the hopes of pushing for a ceasefire and prisoner exchange deal. Read More

Day 248 of Israeli aggression: 37,124 killed, 84,712 injured in Gaza

Al Mayadeen: The number of Palestinians killed since the start of the Israeli aggression on Gaza on October 7 has risen to 37,124 and those injured to 84,712, the Ministry of Health in the Gaza Strip confirmed on Monday. In its daily report, the Health Ministry mentioned that the Israeli occupation forces committed five massacres within 24 hours only, killing a total of 40 and injuring 814 others. Read More

Nusseirat Massacre: The Story of a Palestinian Massacre Disguised as Israeli Rescue
Dr. Marwan Asmar: It’s a criminal act under the eyes of the world. Israel’s Nusseirat massacre with the active cooperation of American help is grotesque by any standard for the 250 Israeli strikes made on the camp during this flagrant military operation. The number of innocent Palestinians killed kept climbing up on the day of the massacre, Saturday, with the final death toll reaching 274 martyrs. These included 64 children, 57 women and 37 elderly people. Shameful is the fact, the massacre was carried out by Israeli soldiers, Shabak agents and members of the police who had been planning this for weeks. Read More

The War on Gaza: The Twilight of the Western Settler Colonialist Project in Palestine
By Amir Nour: In October 2003, late New York University professor and internationally renowned historian Tony Judt wrote an essay in The New York Review of Books (NYRB) entitled “Israel: The Alternative”.  Judt’s essay opened with the sentence: “The Middle East peace process is finished. It did not die: it was killed”, followed by the notion that “The president of the United States of America has been reduced to a ventriloquist’s dummy, pitifully reciting the Israeli cabinet line”.  He went on to contend that Israel “has imported a characteristically late-nineteenth-century separatist project into a world that has moved on, a world of individual rights, open frontiers, and international law. The very idea of a ‘Jewish state’, a state in which Jews and the Jewish religion have exclusive privileges from which non-Jewish citizens are forever excluded is rooted in another time and place. Read More

'Israel cannot win against Hezbollah or Hamas': Israeli general
Al Mayadeen: The Israeli occupation forces will be met with failure in their war with Hamas, and they will certainly meet the same fate in a war against Hezbollah, Israeli Reserve Major General and military analyst Yitzhak Brik said Friday in an op-ed for the Jerusalem Post. Brik stressed that the IOF couldn't beat either Resistance faction, not because they do not seek victory, but simply because they cannot emerge victorious, citing the "small and weak" army that has "no surplus of forces." Read More

US officials discuss negotiating with Hamas to free American hostages
Anadolu Agency: US officials have discussed the possibility of arranging a unilateral agreement with Hamas to secure the release of five American captives in Gaza if the ongoing negotiations with Israel for a cease-fire fail. Such negotiations would exclude Israel and would be mediated by Qatari interlocutors, as has been the case with the ongoing discussions, according to NBC News on Monday, citing two current and two former US officials. Read More

Impunity For 1984 Sikh Genocide Set Precedent For India Today
by Pieter Friedrich: This past week, India’s General Election results shocked most people who follow political trends in that country. Any amateur student of Indian politics could have predicted the BJP’s destination. As the political wing of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, a Hindu nationalist paramilitary, the BJP shares the RSS’s goal of destroying the the country’s officially pluralistic and secular ethos and officially turning it into an ethno-nationalist state. The religious minorities which the RSS ideologues hated the most were — and are — Indian Christians and Muslims. But they also despised — and despise — followers of Sikhi, a religion and social movement indigenous to the subcontinent. In particular, the RSS hated how Sikhs asserted their separate and unique identity, and how the Sikhs propagated doctrines about the universal equality, dignity, and self-worth of all people. Read More

Israel kills 274 Palestinians during hostage rescue raid on Gaza

Daily Sabah: Israel killed at least 274 Palestinians during a raid on central Gaza's Nuesirat that saw four hostages rescued on Saturday. The Israeli military said Noa Argamani, 26, Almog Meir Jan, 22, Andrey Kozlov, 27, and Shlomi Ziv, 41, were pulled out in a "complex" mission. After the operation, piles of smoldering rubble and chunks of concrete clogged the streets. The Gazan media office confirmed Sunday that the number of victims from the Israeli occupation's massacre in the Nuseirat camp has risen to 274 and more than 400 wounded. Read More

Gaza death toll crosses 37,000 as Israel kills 283 Palestinians
Daily Sabah: Israel's genocidal war on Gaza has now killed at least 37,084 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip since last October, the local Health Ministry said Sunday. A ministry statement added that 84,494 others have also been injured in the onslaught. "The Israeli occupation committed eight massacres against families in the Gaza Strip, resulting in 283 martyrs and 814 injries during the past 24 hours," the statement said. Read More

Palestinians 'will not surrender, resistance will continue' — Hamas
Al Mayadeen: The head of Hamas' Political Bureau has reaffirmed that resistance forces would continue to defend Palestinian rights against Israel after attacks on the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza. In a statement on Saturday, Ismail Haniyeh asserted that Israel "continues to massacre Palestinian children and women in the Nuseirat Refugee Camp and Deir al Balah in central Gaza." He said Israel has refused to halt its "war of annihilation" against the Palestinian people despite the world labelling Tel Aviv a "child murderer" — a reference to the UN adding Israel to the blacklist of countries and organisations that harm children in conflict zones. Read More

Day 242 of Israeli aggression: 36,550 killed, 82,959 injured in Gaza

Al Mayadeen: The number of Palestinians killed in Gaza due to the Israeli genocidal war ongoing since October 7 has now reached 36,550, in addition to 82,959 injuries, the Ministry of Health in Gaza announced Tuesday in its daily report. Additionally, it confirmed that the Israeli occupation forces committed seven massacres across seven different families in the Gaza Strip, killing 71 and injuring 182 in 24 hours only. Read More

Israel continued its brutal offensive in Gaza
Daily Sabah: Israel has continued its brutal offensive on the Palestinian enclave since Oct. 7, 2023 following a Hamas attack despite a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire in the enclave. Nearly eight months into the Israeli war, vast swathes of Gaza lay in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine. Read More

Muslim countries under pressure to recognize Israel: Indonesia
Arab News: Indonesian Foreign Affairs Minister Retno Marsudi said on Monday that Muslim countries are under pressure to recognize Israel. Speaking to university students at the Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta, Marsudi said “There are systematic efforts by Israel and its allies to … lobby and pressure Muslim countries to start considering opening up and normalizing ties with Israel.” Read More

Why do Egomaniac Leaders Wage War on Humanity?
Mahboob A. Khawaja: Leaders who view humanity less than in equal human status are extremely naive about their own nature of being a human - lacking moral, spiritual and intellectual act of balancing the consciousness“ or engaged in competitive numbers games to elevate their own image in global power and influence over others. They use dynamics of absolutism and aggressive behavior to manipulate the weak and helpless people. Read More

India Elections: Huge Setback for Narendra Modi and BJP
Countercurrents: After ruling for 10 years India’s right-wing Hindu Nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) failed to make a decisive majority in India’s 543 member parliament. As per the latest trends BJP is leading in 240 seats, 30 short of a simple majority. However, the BJP led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) is leading in 290 seats, just over the majority mark. However, the equations may change as the opposition Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (I.N.D.I.A) are leading in 234 seats. Read More

BJP lost in Ram Mandir constituency of Faizabad. Here's what it meansFirst Post: BJP candidate Lallu Singh, the sitting MP, has conceded the race in Uttar Pradesh’s Faizabad – the constituency in which the Ram Mandir has been built – to Samajwadi Party candidate Awadhesh Prasad. Experts say that the Dalit vote in the state favoured the INDI alliance and that issues of development and unemployment trumped religion. Read More

No landslide but Modi's Hindu nationalists eye victory in India polls
Daily Sabah: India's Hindu nationalist Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his allies were poised for victory Tuesday, but the opposition claimed they had "punished" the ruling party by reducing its parliamentary majority. Read More

BRICS and de-dollarization, how far can it go?
Michael Corbin: As the current chair of BRICS, Russia is pursuing a rather extensive agenda related to finance that includes enhancing the role of member countries in the international monetary and financial system and developing interbank cooperation and settlements in national currencies. BRICS is an intergovernmental organization founded by Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa that recently expanded and now includes Iran, Egypt, Ethiopia, and the United Arab Emirates. Read More

Xi urges greater efforts to build China-Arab community with shared future
Xinhua: Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday called on China and Arab states to deepen cooperation and step up the building of a China-Arab community with a shared future. Xi made the remarks in a keynote speech at the opening ceremony of the 10th ministerial conference of the China-Arab States Cooperation Forum (CASCF). Read More

Reading in President Xi Jinping speech at 10th China-Arab Ministerial Meeting

Bridging continents:  China-Arab States Cooperation Forum's path to new cooperation

Biden announces new deal to end Israel's Gaza attacks
Daily Sabah: U.S. President Joe Biden said that Israel had offered a new framework toward permanent peace in Gaza, as he called on Hamas to accept the surprise agreement. In his first major address outlining a solution to the eight-month conflict, Biden said the proposal started with a six-week phase that would see Israeli forces withdraw from all populated areas of Gaza. "It's time for this war to end, for the day after to begin," Biden said Friday in a televised address from the White House, adding that "we can't lose this moment" to seize the chance for peace. Read More

Hamas views Biden's deal proposal 'positively'
Reuters: Palestinian resistance group Hamas said they view U.S. President Biden's latest proposal for a Gaza cease-fire as "positive." Read More

The key elements of the "comprehensive" plan
Daily Sabah: Here are the key elements of the "comprehensive" plan that President Biden called a "roadmap to an enduring cease-fire" after more than eight months of grinding conflict. Read More

Palestinian death toll nears 36,400 as Israel continues to pound Gaza
Anadolu Agency: At least 36,379 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s ongoing offensive on the Gaza Strip since last October, the Health Ministry in the besieged enclave said on Saturday. A ministry statement added that 82,407 other people have also been injured in the onslaught. “Israeli attacks killed 95 people and injured 350 others in the last 24 hours,” the statement said. “Many people are still trapped under rubble and on the roads as rescuers are unable to reach them,” it added. Read More

Israel expands Rafah offensive, saying it now controls Gaza’s entire border with Egypt
Media: Israel’s military said Wednesday it has seized control of the entire length of Gaza’s border with Egypt, without elaborating. Capturing the strategic Philadelphi corridor signals that Israel has deepened its offensive in southern Gaza. Read More

President Erdogan marks 571st anniversary of Istanbul's conquest
TRT World: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has celebrated the 571st anniversary of the Conquest of Istanbul, a pivotal event in Turkish and world history."I celebrate the 571st anniversary of the Conquest of Istanbul, one of the magnificent victories in world history and our history," Erdogan declared on Wednesday, underscoring the enduring significance of this historic triumph. Read More

The conquest of Constantinople: The heralding in a new era
BY EKREM BUĞRA EKINCI: The conquest of Constantinople by the Turks on May 29, 1453 is more than just the ordinary fall of a city. The conquest was a turning point both in the Turkish and Islamic history and the history of the world. Read More
 

 

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HEADLINES

 The Journal of America Team:

 Editor in chief:
Abdus Sattar Ghazali

Senior Editor:
Prof. Arthur Scott

Special Correspondent
Maryam Turab